Deadline to opt out of My Health Record extended as website struggles

Labor tried to pass a 12-month extension, but the crossbench would only agree to a shorter delay before millions of Australians are automatically signed up for a digital health profile.

UpdatedUpdated 14 November 2018

By
James Elton-Pym

Share

The deadline for Australians to opt out of My Health Record has been extended until the end of January after the Senate voted in favour of a delay.

The extension was confirmed by health minister Greg Hunt on Wednesday afternoon, amid reports the opt-out website was crashing under the weight of last-minute applications.

The opt-out window was due to close on Thursday and the majority of Australians would have had an online health record created in their name to allow the easy transfer of records between authorised doctors and specialists.

Labor attempted to rush through amendments in the Senate that would force the government to delay the end of the opt-out period by 12 months, but the crossbench powerbrokers would only agree to a more modest extension of less than three months.

Today the Government worked with the Senate crossbench to extend the opt-out period for #MyHealthRecord.

The opt-out period will be extended until January 31, 2019, however, it’s important to note that people can opt-out at any time.

Labor has promised to task the Privacy Commissioner with a review of the legislation if it wins the next election, to check for any further weaknesses in the system.

Shadow Health spokeswoman Catherine King wants the opt-out period for My Health Record extended. (AAP)

Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King said My Health Record promised huge benefits for people which participated, but they had been jeopardised by the Liberals shifting away from Labor's opt-in model.

"Their botched rollout has seriously undermined public trust in this important reform and it's going to take time to rebuild it," Ms King said in a statement.

Ms King said the original opt-out period would have ended before the government could pass privacy protections it had already agreed were needed.

"The My Health Record opt-out period must not end until the clean-up legislation has passed the parliament."

She said the 12-month extension would give the government time to reach Australians with a new public information campaign.

Health Minister Greg Hunt argues there have been no cases of misuse of information in the six years the system has operated, but the government was willing to provide further protections.

It is not clear when the government plans to push its privacy amendments through the parliament.